Well, this is something that I've been tinkering with on my computer for a while now. It's my shot at an imprint story, mixed with a few more mythological/supernatural elements to keep the Twilight characters on their toes. Let me know what you think...
I sighed as I pulled up to the small, two-bedroom, one-story house. Colton looked at me from the passenger seat, eyebrows raised in question. Through the torrential downpour, I checked the house number again. 1500 West Maple Street-it was definitely the right address.
"Come on," I said as I rolled my eyes dramatically at my moody teenage brother. Colt awarded me with a half grin as we sprinted from the car and over to the small front porch. I fumbled with the key with my cold fingers and managed to fit it into the lock without help from my brother.
The inside was simple. There was a sofa, a nice TV, an armchair. The kitchen was small, as were the bedrooms and one bathroom, but it was cozy and we had stayed in worse before. Our protectors weren't always adept at finding suitable safehouses, so this ranked among the better ones.
The house was fully furnished, which was a plus I hadn't expected, and generically decorated. Colt and I took our five boxes and four large duffels into the living room and plopped them down. The short echo was a pleasant sound.
Colt took the boyish room with the twin bed and I took what was apparently the master with the queen sized bed. We put our clothes away and set out our personal items before moving on to watch TV together in the living room.
The next morning, I picked up coffee and donuts before dropping Colt off at the junior high. I watched him disappear into the main building before I went off to the high school myself.
My classes were basic, which wasn't a bad thing, but I wasn't too crazy about any of them. At lunch, I had plenty of annoying, talkative people to sit with, but was saved by a quiet girl named Bella. She invited me to sit at a table with vampires. I accepted, of course.
"Um, this is Edward, that's Alice. What's your name?" Bella asked me with a fierce red blush. I grinned.
"You can call me Summer," I offered. Bella nodded. I wondered idly how much she knew about her two friends. Then I pondered over the possibility of there being more of them in Forks.
"Right, okay. I…asked you over because I remember how tough it was on my first day," Bella explained. I nodded thoughtfully, still stuck in my thoughts on the vampire issue.
"Where did you come from?" Alice asked. I smiled sweetly.
"Oh, you know, here and there…I've been all over," I told her quietly with a shrug. It was enough for her, but not her brother.
"You sound southern," he suggested. My eyes narrowed as I felt a light nudge in my mind. My defenses slammed up immediately, locking my mind shut. Mind reader.
"Hmm," I hummed thoughtfully. Bella broke the awkward moment quickly.
"So, Summer, what grade are you in?" she asked. Her voice sounded nervous. I turned away from Edward to look at her with a smile.
"I'll be graduating in June," I explained. Bella nodded.
"Graduation will be great. Are you missing your friends from home?" Alice asked politely. I grinned.
"Not really," I answered.
If my answers surprised these people, they didn't show it. There was something about them though that made me feel that I could trust them-which was never a good feeling around vampires.
"Are you enjoying Forks so far?" Edward asked me politely. I shrugged with my continuous smile.
"It's very different from other places that I've been," I answered carefully. He leaned in a little from across the table.
"How?" he asked. I offered a sweeter smile.
"Just…different," I said as I noted his golden eyes. Edward blinked and the bell rang. Alice offered to show me to my next class and I accepted. As we strode through the doors of the crowded cafeteria, I felt Edward's sharp eyes follow me out of the room as he held Bella to his side possessively.
That afternoon, I picked Colt up from school and went straight home to drop him off and change for work. I instructed him to lock up the house tight and to do his homework. He was to avoid video games like the plague until his work was finished, and to eat cereal for dinner.
At the club one town over, I wore a pretty mask and pretended that I was someone else. I pretended that I had a mom and dad that took care of Colt and me. I pretended that we lived in a nice house and I went to a nice school and had nice friends. My bedroom had lilac walls and a desk to do homework at. My nice friends went with me to the nice beach on the lovely weekends. I pretended a lot of nice things to keep my mind off of my job.
I made it home just in time to tell Colt goodnight as I walked straight into the shower. I knew that I would only be working a few nights out of the week; our jobs with the circus had given us plenty of money to lean on, but I wanted to stay comfortable in our lives here, and hopefully stay until the end of the school year in June.
I did my homework after my shower and collapsed onto my soft bed. Sleep claimed me quickly.